alice's adventures in wonderland through the looking glass

“Picasso’s Trousers” – The courage to say “Yes!” when others say “No!” How perfectly in keeping with Carrollean sensible nonsense! Or was it nonsensical sense 🙂 Likely an anecdote, but story has it that Carroll (a mathematician, first and foremost) obliged Her Majesty by sending her his next book titled “An Elementary Treatise on Determinants”, a rather scientific and dry mathematical work. So big was its success that the Queen was rumored to have written to Lewis Carroll asking to send to her the first edition of his next book. Her Majesty Queen Victoria herself was said to admire it. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” was first published in 1865 and was an instant success in Victorian England.

Thus, hundreds of various John Tenniel editions may be of interest to serious collectors who strive at completeness. For example, following the book’s first edition, versions of it with John Tenniel’s illustrations have never been out of print. The renown Carrollean scholar and collector Selwyn Goodacre is said to own close to 2,000 illustrated “Alice” editions, though this number includes multiple version by the same illustrator. It is not known with certainty how many illustrated versions of this literary masterpiece exist. Not surprisingly, new versions continue to be produced around the world in great numbers with no slowing down on the horizon – heavens for “Alice” collectors and hell for their credit cards! Illustrating “Alice” is regarded as a symbolic Everest ascent in any illustrator’s career. I love seeing this brilliant text, with its nonsensical sense and sensible nonsense, artistically re-interpreted over and over again. Last I’ve checked there was close to 100 of these editions on my shelves, including versions illustrated by English, American, British, Russian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Greek, Bulgarian artists. I collect illustrated “Alice” for years now, constantly adding to and expanding my “Alice” holdings. Is there such thing as too much “Alice”? Not in my library.

Alice's adventures in wonderland through the looking glass